Why this is a Masterpiece

My personal favourite among the Singasari statues is Mahakala, one of the gate keepers of the main temple at Singasari. This statue is a lot more dynamic than the other gate keeper (1403-1624).
By Dr. Pieter ter Keurs, Curator Insular Southeast Asian Collections, Leiden.

History of the Object

This statue comes from the main building of the temple complex close to the village of Singasari (North of Malang). It was taken from the temple in 1804 by the Dutch Governor of East Java, Nicolaus Engelhard. Among other statues, he placed this one in his garden in Semarang. In 1819 it, as well as other statues, were shipped to the Netherlands, but it was only in 1903 that it became part of the collection of the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde (National Museum of Ethnology).